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Magic
The Ethereal Crafts are the manner in which the inhabitants of the Material Plane are able to research, harness and manipulate the six sources of supernatural energy. A person who chooses to study any one of these crafts is given a title respective of their choice in craft, changing alongside the practitioner as they ascend to a level of mastery over their craft. The energies tied to said craft are also given a suitable name, as are the actual processes of manipulating these energies. The Ethereal Edicts Throughout the five centuries of existence with the many practices of metaphysical manipulation, the Merjandal Empire has devised several rules that all who wish to undertake training to master any one of these crafts must adhere to. These are known as the Ethereal Edicts, and are as follows: * All who desire to practice the Ethereal Crafts must publicly apply for the education institution that is appropriate to their choice of metaphysical learning and that has been adjudicated a reputation as the highest possible standard available to the citizen by a qualified Inspector of Metaphysical Matters. * Students attending such institutions must maintain a consistent attendance record. They may not leave school grounds unless they notify a member of the administration about their whereabouts and reasons for leaving. Students may also not remain absent for more than two weeks in tandem to each other, unless staff have been given due notice of their absence within one week prior, if the event causing their leave was arranged beforehand, or within one hour of the school's first morning class, if the student has fallen suddenly ill and is unable to come in. Astral Energy Folk belonging to a monastic order have posited many times the theory that a soul resides within not just all living things, but also of all that is inanimate and deceased. The soul is believed to have been a creation of the gods to inhabit the mortal vessels of Hollumund. At birth, it is assumed that the soul travels from the afterlife through a plane of existence known as the Astral Plane, or Sea, a realm of infinite energy that instills within the soul the ability to remember experiences and senses of the past and present, to feel emotions, sympathy and empathy towards others, and to transform these sensations and imagery into dreams while the mortal body rests. This energy, known as astral energy, is what allows the body to function as it does, creating both the consciousness and the subconsciousness of the mind. As the body dreams, the astral energy returns to the Astral Plane, physically and mentally wearing the body down as the soul loses its capacity to feel, express and remember. The final journey undertaken by the soul upon death returns all that remains of the information retained and experienced while residing within its mortal vessel. The only method of maintaining a healthy soul, and therefore body, is through the devotion of the entirety of their remaining days attempting to gain entrance into the Astral Plane as a monk, as such a feat will allow for the restoration of astral energy to the soul. This is a difficult task, however, since such a selfish motivation automatically renders any attempt to enter the Astral Plane impossible. Only those whose desires are pure, who wish only to better themselves for the sole sake of betterment, will reach the Astral Plane. Draíocht The secret craft of druidry has been kept to all but those within the reclusive druidic circles, never written down or shared to those outside of their circles. However, years of torture and interrogation has revealed their practices revolve around the sanctifying of natural regions such as forests, mountains, lakes and beaches, among many others, and the wielding of an energy uniquely found within the bacteria, flora, fungi and fauna that dwell within. This energy has been named draíocht, and allows for the creation of a physical and mental connection with the inhabitants of these regions and taking on the aspects of their respective species. Other than these manifestations, it has been discovered that druids must maintain the natural cycle of life and death and prevent the destruction of their consecrated lands in order to sustain their connection with the energy. Divinity Deiturgy is one of the first ever forms of ethereal craft, concerning continued religious belief in both the deities of the religion and their teachings and practices, granting them a small ounce of their gods' power. This power is an energy known as divinity, and is wielded by priests in their desire to uphold the views and traditions of their gods. The powers gifted to priests are only a pittance of the whole of a god's power, though it nonetheless enables the manipulation of reality by the deity's acolytes. What priests are capable of using divinity for is entirely dependent on their faith. Those who follow Allwissendism, for example, are capable of controlling the air around them and discovering the exact properties of a single object they wish to know more about, and have the ability to hold their breath for an indefinite amount of time. Those who follow another faith, such as Quinticism, are able to transform their skin into the hardened scales of their draconic gods, and hold the power to exhale any singular substance, such as fire or electricity. Magus Force Many would posit that the energy forming the ethereal crafts are a gift to the mortal inhabitants of Hollumund. All but the magi, of course. These poor souls have been tormented by the will of the magus force, the energy inherent within their bodies since the moment of their conception. Their craft is one that has motivated countless sleepless nights in search of more powerful methods of releasing their energy, a motivation inescapable and involuntary, driven only by the mind of the energy residing within them. The magus force originated during the First Planar Coalescence from the realm of Majia, allowing the energy to seep through the portals created across the Material Plane and seep into the mortal bodies. The magus force, unlike all other energies, is alive and thinking, driven by a constant need to escape its mortal confinement and return to its source. Magus force cannot exist within the Material Plane by itself, however, and so it must remain within its vessel in order to survive. The act of releasing magus force is known as magic, and those who practice is as magi, and is formed from the intense desire of the magus force to leave the magi's body. The effect caused by this release of energy is known as a "spell". Since magus force cannot survive outside of the magi's body for too long, it is immediate in its return to its vessel. Despite this, it has been discovered that the more powerful a spell, the more energy needed to cast it. This has caused many magi to drain themselves of their energy in force's attempt to escape and the magi's attempt to rid themselves of this curse. However, the temptation of magic is strong, the power it gifts those who wield it impossible to resist, a subconscious desire implanted within them by the magus force itself; an action provoked by a desperation to continue living their, nevertheless torturous, existence. Mana At the creation of the world, the Material Plane converged with the many planes of existence. One of these planes was Honua, the realm of mana. Mana is an energy existing in objects, people and places, capable of being channelled only through the actions of those the mana inhabits. There are two types of mana; protective and offensive, there respective attainment dependent on either an act of righteousness or violence, respectively. The former allows for the manifestation of shields and armour, the healing of wounds and protection against disease, and of defense against certain types of attacks, such as corrosion. The latter forms weaponry and bursts of elemental power, like strikes of lightning or clouds of miasma. Folk who are able to harness and control mana are known as paladins. Paladin orders are groups of these people, who swear oaths of devotion to upholding the traits that grant them these feats of supernatural prowess. Whether these oaths are beneficial or detrimental is dependent on the order the paladins belong to. Ovatia The folk of Hollumund believe that words carry exponential weight and importance to them, and no more is this true than for ovates. An ovate is a poet, storyteller and musician, expertly weaving the energy known as ovatia through the strum of their lyre, the notes of their lute, or each carefully-plucked syllable of their sentence to achieve a desired effect. Ovatia is a strange energy, affecting the mind through the physical interaction of anyone who wields it with words and the harmonic or purposefully discordant notes of a musical instrument. Able to bend reality to their will simply with the words that they speak, ovates hold sway over people in such a way as to transfix them, leaving them vulnerable to a corollary attack. This has led to purges of ovates and the criminalisation of their occupation in certain countries, as many rulers feared their power would be strong enough to usurp them, while others allowed the ovates to remain in their profession, albeit with the caveat of forcing their kind onto the battlefield for the inspiration of their troops and the demoralisation of their opponents.